I'm really hesitant to write this post, because once again, I'm going to complain about something that I know I have better than an enormous number of people in this country. Still, the impact on me personally is significant, so I am going to take the plunge and whine anyway.
On January 1, the service provider who handles claims for military health care changed. It used to be United Health Care, and it was okay. For the most part, they kept up with all the twists and turns I threw at them, only screwing up billing a couple times over the two years since we went on Tricare Prime for Retirees. Considering how mind-bogglingly many medical visits I've had in the last ten years alone, the fact that they did all right with my complex case was impressive.
I do not know why they switched the contract to Health Net. I wasn't consulted on that decision, and I doubt they would have welcomed my input had I tried to offer it. So far everything I've heard, Health Net was not prepared for the massive contract that this is. They had not hired enough case workers or claims processors before taking it on. They've already had to waive referral requirements for the first half of this year. It stresses me the hell out knowing I have an appointment with my gastroenterologist on Wednesday, and there is no document backing me up that my primary care doctor has sent me there.
Here's the part I'm afraid to admit I'm really upset about: My copays have gone up. My primary care doc now costs 60% more. All of the specialists she sends me to have gone up by 150%. The raw dollar amount is small, especially compared with what a lot of people with shitty private insurance pay, but when one views economies of scale, I am paying a ton more than I can afford. When I was going to physical therapy for my neck/shoulder several weeks ago, the office manager sighed that she wished she could have a tiny $12 copay like I had. Well, I no longer have that. PCP is now $20 and specialists $30. I average a minimum of three doctor visits a month. Bad months and it's five or more. I also take six prescription medications daily, along with nine supplements. Generic copays have gone up 10% from 10 bucks to 11. That should have been okay, but for a year my PCP has been losing her mind over the fact that the anti-malarial drug I take for lupus is generic not name brand. She wants me on branded Plaquenil, which will increase that to $28 a month. She also prescribed a name branded inhaler last week, when she decided my oxygen saturation has been chronically low and she doesn't like it. Another $28. And that last prescription I added in from the rheumatologist, the one that is supposed to trick my brain into forcing me to produce more of my own endorphins? Yeah. Totally denied by insurance. It has to be compounded, so I am paying $55 a month for that.
You know, I don't want to do all the math to add this up. It will freak me out even more than I already am. I am barely able to work, and I have no clients under contract yet this year (thus no real estate income yet this year). I'm not ready to start the nightmare that is disability. I have yet to hear anyone get through it without lawyers and appeals. I am highly unlikely to be willing to call a lawyer, so as far as I am concerned, that door is closed and locked. (It's not just the cost of the service -- it's the actual telephone part. Yes, this is part of the chronic illness. No, it isn't fixable.) Two years ago I signed up with Patreon, but I never activated anything. It steers you strongly into creating bonus material for people who sign up as your patrons, especially at higher levels. Dude. I write every single night without fail, five years running next month. I don't know what more to give. I don't know that I can physically do more than I do. I'm really starting to wonder if I can continue to afford being myself at all.
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